Habit
by LavenderBlossom74
Summary: It starts off as normal: Percy begins holding Annabeth's hand when they're in crowded areas so that she doesn't get swallowed up by the crowd. Then it becomes a habit - one hard to break. AU One-shot


_**AN:**_ For the sake of the story, I am deviating from Annabeth's cannon height (according to the Demigod Files, 5'10 which girl _how_ , I can only _wish_ ) and moving it to like I don't know, 5'5? Which is still pretty tall but it works better for the story. Honestly I always imagined her head coming to Percy's shoulder so learning she was only like 2 inches shorter than him was like _what._ Anywho, that's all; enjoy the story!

Percy swears it started off normal. He was genuinely concerned that he was going to quite literally lose Annabeth when they tackled that ridiculously packed crowd. Naturally, his response was to hold her hand.

Of course as soon as her hand was in his, she looked at him like he was off his rocker. As explanation, he offered a cheeky grin and moved his free hand from the top of his head to the top of her head, smugly pointing out their obvious height difference. Then he pointed at the crowd they were about to descend into.

"Well?" He asked

With a roll of her eyes, Annabeth said, "Fine"

And that's how it started. Every time they went into places with large crowds (like concerts, fairs, stores with big sales, football games, etc.), Percy held Annabeth's hand. Their friends were quick to pick up on their new habit and when confronted about it, Percy simply answered that he was "legitimately concerned for Annabeth's continued health and well-being" and was doing his part to ensure no harm came her way.

Jason had shot him a disbelieving look, Frank had shrugged, Leo had smirked wickedly, and Grover just bleated out a laugh and shook his head.

It came to a point where Percy didn't even hesitate to grab Annabeth's hand when they were an area full of people. His ears no longer reddened and he didn't feel so self-conscious when holding her hand.

It became a new habit.

Percy knew it had become too much of a habit though, when he reached for Annabeth's hand only to realize they were in a room with like 5 people. Counting themselves _and_ consisti ng of only close friends

With a measured sigh, he quickly withdrew his hand before it could come into contact with Annabeth's. Trying to distract himself from his predicament, he turned to talk to Jason about the English Paper they'd been assigned in Lit. Less than 10 minutes into the conversation though, he looked down to find his fingers intertwined with Annabeth's. He looked up at her but she was deeply engrossed in whatever conversation she was having with Piper, none the wiser to the fact that her hand was held captive in Percy's.

Fighting the urge to bonk his head on the wall, Percy looked back at Jason only to see that the guy was pointedly moving his gaze from their hands to Percy's face and back to their hands.

He cringed when he met Jason's eyes and helplessly shrugged, like _what can you do?_

Jason just upturned a single eyebrow, "Any new developments lately?"

Percy frantically shook his head, "Nope. None whatsoever."

"You sure? No burning dates or anything?"

"Zilch."

"I'm asking because - from where I'm sitting at least - the room doesn't appear that full."  
Percy squirmed "Yeah well… it was an accident. I didn't mean to; it just kinda… happened."

"Right."

"Dude, I swear," Percy hissed lowly, "I'm just as surprised just as you are."

"I don't know. I'm just saying you guys should figure out what's going on between you."

Ignoring the meaning behind his words, Percy settled on the first thing that came to him: a counterattack.

"Sure, just like you do with Piper."

Jason's entire face became a tomato as he harshly whispered "sHH dude, sh! She's right there!"

Percy motioned with his head towards Annabeth, "Well, she is too!" he whispered back.

Resigned, Jason got the message and didn't push any longer. They changed the topic and soon were laughing about the latest meme but it didn't change the fact that a small voice inside Percy's head was saying he couldn't keep this up forever.

The moment of truth came when he and Annabeth were hanging out at the Park while Percy took Mrs. O'Leary for a walk. Some blonde guy came over to them, bright red and staring at the ground.

"Hey, um I just wanted to say you're really pretty and I wanted to know if maybe you would go on a-" He finally looked up only to owlishly blink up at Annabeth. With horror dawning on his face he looked over to where her hand was tightly held in Percy's (when had _that_ happened?) and his jaw dropped.

"Well this is awkward. I am so sorry, it appears you already have a boyfriend. My most sincerest apologies-"

Percy saw Annabeth's brow furrow as she said, "No, I don't"

The guy stopped his rambling and looked at Annabeth with confusion, "Then who's _he?_ "

"A friend" Annabeth said defensively.

The guy's face was incredulous, "A friend who you hold hands with," he paused to look up at Percy, "And who's glaring like he planning my murder at this moment."

Percy blinked. He wasn't glaring… was he?

Annabeth raised their joined hands and stared at them with disbelief.

The guy muttered something like "And I thought I was messed up" before more loudly saying, "I'll just… be over there." and walking away.

Annabeth was still staring at their hands like a puzzle she couldn't figure out - and Percy knew she _hated_ that. So he just patiently waited it out (more like he didn't want to risk getting his head chewed off. More so that it already was going to be anyway).

He moved to a more secluded area and used his free hand to grab a stick and threw it as far as he could. He let Mrs. O'Leary off her leash and watched her and she chased after it.

After the eighth game of catch, Annabeth finally said "I think something isn't working out with our previous arrangement."

"Really?"

At her cool glare, Percy quickly amended his response to, "I mean, yes, something isn't working out." Mrs. O' Leary came bounding back and put the stick at his feet. With a sigh, Percy grabbed a new stick in favor of the saliva filled one and threw it once more.

He shrugged as he turned back to Annabeth, "It's just, I've gotten so used to holding your hand that sometimes I just do it without thinking."

Annabeth nodded, "I see." She looked down at her shoes, "And I've gotten so used to you holding my hand I don't even realize it anymore." She sighed, "Well, I guess the solution is just… no more hand holding at all?"

Percy tried for a carefree grin, "Not even if you're about to get swallowed by a monster crowd?" he teased as he bumped her shoulder.

Annabeth smiled but it didn't reach her eyes. "No, not even then, Seaweed Brain."

With a nod, Percy said, "Okay."

And it was hard at first. They'd be walking down the street and suddenly he'd realize they were holding hands. The first time it happened it was rather awkward when they had to pull apart, especially since it was freezing out and his hand felt noticeably colder when he let go. So he stuffed it into his jacket and walked faster.

A habit was hard to give up after all.

But gradually the habit began to die. He slowly but surely got to be back in full control of his actions, no longer reaching for Annabeth's hand on auto pilot.

Which was why it confused him so much that he still _wanted_ to hold her hand. He and Annabeth had been friends forever. Why now, senior year of high school, did he suddenly have to get the brilliant idea of holding her hand in crowded places? All that handholding had done was awaken something he'd tried to keep dormant for years.

Because yeah, he was aware his best friend was beautiful and _yeah_ , he was aware she was the one he could talk to about anything and _yeah, he was aware she was his rock_ , had been there when he was going through his parents' divorce, had been there the long hours of the night, studying with him so he could get the grades he needed to stay on the swim team, had been there when his mom had battled cancer, had been there to rejoice with him when his mom won the battle …

And yet, he was also aware he didn't want to risk losing the friendship he had with her. So he hadn't. But then he'd acted on pure instinct _stupid stupid stupid!_

Then came the day Jason asked Piper out (I finally followed my own advice, dude; you should too. Don't let fear hold you back… You'll regret it)

He didn't want to let fear hold him back. He just didn't know how to overcome it.

The day he goes to the Christmas Parade with his friends, he's expecting it to be just like the other crowded places he's recently been to (in other words, no hand holding).

Imagine his surprise when he suddenly feels a tight grasp on his hand, looks down to see Annabeth's wide eyes as she stares at the mass of people before them (It's _New York_ _City_ after all). Percy looks around and sees everyone else has already paired up and is ready to meet the masses, Jason gives him a knowing grin and a two-fingered salute before Piper pulls his away.

As he and Annabeth dive into the crowd, only one thought envelops him: _he will not let go._ They emerge on the other side, a good view of the parade before them and with a halfhearted grin Annabeth says, "Sorry, Seaweed Brain, it's just with _that_ many people I wasn't sure I was gonna be able to make it."

She tries to pull her hand away but Percy only tightens his hold.

Annabeth looks at him with confusion, "Percy?"

And this should be the time Percy says it, says _I don't want to let you go_ , says _Will you be my girlfriend?_ but the words are stuck in his throat and all that comes out instead is, "I'm cold."

For good measure, he adds a pout and does his cute baby seal eyes.

Annabeth rolls her eyes but ever the best friend, begins rubbing his hand in both of hers. "Then you should've brought gloves."

"Forgot" Percy mumbles.

Annabeth laughs, "I'm guessing you forgot your blanket too? Seriously Percy, the parade doesn't even start for another half hour and then we still have to wait for it to finish."

"Sharing is caring?" He offers brightly.

She brings out two blankets, places on the floor to sit on, and gives the remaining one to Percy. "Sharing is caring." She agrees.

After both are situated on the ground, he wraps the blanket around both of them. Then he picks up on her hands (she didn't forget _her_ gloves) and begins to trace the reindeer on them. After a while, the hands suddenly close into fists and Percy looks at Annabeth only to see all traces of the previous humor gone from her face. Not meeting his eyes, she says, "Percy…"

And he gets it. They agreed on more hand holding, no more hand _nothing._ But he knows right then in that moment that if he doesn't _try_ , he'll regret it.

So he forces the clenched fists to open, interlaces his fingers with Annabeth's stiff ones, looks at her and hoarsely whispers "I don't want to let go."

She's staring at him with eyes as wide as saucers and _that's it, he messed up_ but as his expression falls and he starts to pull away his hands, Annabeth suddenly holds them tighter.

With surprise he looks at her and with a small that fully reaches her shining eyes, she says "I don't want to let go either."

They grin at each other like dorks and from somewhere inside him Percy pulls the courage to ask, "Will you by my girlfriend?"

"Of course, seaweed brain"

And when she kisses him, he just melts into her. And it's basically the best below freezing weather kiss anyone could ever have.

~LB


End file.
